Marlow Head 2009

Some great results today, despite some awful weather conditions at Dorney Lake. Top of the pile were Tim and I, winning the Vet Doubles but good showing from the other four crews as well. The First Division went off in clear, calm, sunny weather; by Division Two it was torrential rain and gusting winds. It calmed a bit for Division Three with light rain but some vicious squalls.

Womens IM2 4+
A very impressive row in Division 1 from the ladies crew saw them finish in second place in this category, losing by just 1.8 seconds to the CORC first boat. This was a great result, beating some very big names, such as Marlow, Eton Excelsior and a second CORC boat. The losing margin all the more galling as they haven’t been able to train together for several weeks!

Womens IM3 4+
Rowing in the second Division, this was a truly horrible introduction to competition for Andi and Frances with driving rain and high winds. Despite this, the crew put in a really good performance, finishing fourth of seven. A really good start for the two new girls.

Womens Novice 4+
Again, racing in the second division, the Novice crew rowed well to come fourth in the category, despite a couple of boat stopping crabs.

Senior 2-
Nick and Tim’s stated aim was to finish the course! Rowing at Senior level as this was a late entry, they achieved far more than their minimum aim (despite one crab that they thought was going to have them in) and put in a competitive row to finish a really creditable second!

Vet 2x-
Only Tim and my second race but what a cracker. We swapped around with me stroking and Tim steering and this worked much better. Despite strong cross winds and a couple of big squalls we clicked and put in a really strong race to come away with the win in the Vet 2x- category. Actually feel that rowing on Caldecotte Lake gave us an edge here, being used to dealing with seriously nasty conditions.

Overall
Despite a REALLY early start and a lot of doubt about whether the event would go ahead, this was a truly successful day for the club. Coming away from Marlow with a win, two seconds and two fourths shows the progress we are making. Maybe, just maybe, people will stop being surprised at us winning events (the guy handing out medals couldn’t believe it!) and start taking us seriously.

Pretty good event and reasonable marshalling. Just a pity that they handed out pretty tacky medals rather than proper pots to the winners (can’t drink from a medal and at £9 a seat a bit cheap!).

Just be warned – watch out if Guildford are around and hang onto your trestles!!!!!! Just joking and you were good fun, guys! Look forward to seeing you up at MKRC as we hope to be holding our first Regatta next May. Watch this space!

Finally, thanks to Karen for jumping in at the last minute to trailer as the temporary repair to my car failed on Saturday evening.

Photos on-line already at my MKRC photo site.

Results now up on the Marlow RC site

Veteran Fours Head 2009

And I thought the Pairs Head was a long way! Out on the Tideway again today, for the Veteran Fours Head in the Quad, rowing at Vet C. Really nice as we started at number 7 so didn’t have to wait around too long for the start.

In stark contrast to yesterday, the weather was clear, bright and sunny and virtually calm (the Fours Head yesterday was cancelled because of high winds and heavy rain). There was a very strong stream running (with lots of alarming sized debris) which made keeping station at the start “fun”. Although we’d had to rejig the crew yesterday, with Tim coming in for an unwell Simon, the race went very smoothly. Results now up and we came 5th of eight in Vet C, and a creditable 61st overall. Really pleased, especially as two of the crews in front of us were composites and three were Tideway clubs.

We did lose some time as two boats (London and Thames, who should know better) left us nowhere to go coming off of Hammersmith bridge, causing us to virtually stop, to avoid ramming the marshal. Otherwise, no mistakes and a clean row.

Rowing back is sheer hell though. Four and a bit miles at race pace, then the same back again, this time against the tide. Must be mad but despite this really enjoyed it (although the alcohol now is numbing the pain) and we’re already talking about the Eight’s Head!

Photos on-line at the MKRC Photo site, with race results now up at the Vet Fours Website

Upper Thames Head 2009

Yuk. The only way to describe the conditions for yesterday’s Upper Thames Head. Heavy rain and driving winds for the first division with at least the rain holding off in the second division. This made for a very hard race, with a strong, gusting head/cross wind and a fast stream running.

W.IM1 4+
Although really an IM3 level crew, the ladies put in a strong performance in the worst of the weather in Division 1. Not surprisingly finishing last in their section, it was still a good time.

W.IM2 4+
Swapping Becks and Yemin from rowing to coxing was the only change for the IM2 boat in the second division. Again, still and IM3 crew, they did well to finish sixth of eight crews. Much praise for Becks’ coxing in this one, avoiding the carnage by Temple Island

IM3 2x-
Still gaining experience in the double, Josh and Paul found the rough conditions very hard going, finishing well behind the other IM3 double. They weren’t helped of course by the coming together with another crew…

Vet D 2x-
Despite coming together with another crew (yes, we did clash with Paul and Josh, but only as we were forced over into them by an UTRC double who needed at least half of the river to pass us) Steve and I put in a good row. The rough water allowed us to overhaul Paul and Josh off the start although they then came back at us as we tired and the water calmed by Temple Island. On the final straight, we managed to push past them again as their lack of experience told – in the conditions they had been tensing their arms so much they could hardly feather at the end! We finished well off the UTRC double, although losing time because of the coming together with the other two didn’t help.

Overall, very hard racing in very poor conditions. This one is a real test of endurance and technique.

Must comment on the (lack of) organisation. Firstly, the parking arrangements had cars parked nice and close to the boating area and the trailers parked about half a kilometre away; not fun carrying boats and blades that distance, weaving in between parked cars. Then, the marshalling (especially in division one) was almost non-existent and finally, there was the game of spot the start post! Considering this is one of the most expensive heads and UTC are a “big” club, not impressed. Oh, and the marshall shouting at Paul and Josh to come in from the far bank when we were being pushed across into them; had they done so, we would have had a major collision. I guess there’s no way they are going to yell at one of their own crews…

Photos are already on-line at the MKRC photo site and results are up at the UTRC results page

Pairs Head 2009

It doesn’t sound much, just 4k but it really is a long, long way. Yesterday saw Steve and I haul ourselves down to London again for the annual Pairs (not Paris as some would have…) Head. For those that don’t know it, this is a 4,000 meter course on the Thames, starting at the Boat Race finish post and going downstream to Hammersmith.

We boated this year from Tideway Scullers, right next to the start line. Conditions were, as they say, interesting. The wind was reasonably brisk and with a strong tide running, just keeping position before the start was quite an effort. The usual mayhem and chaos took place while waiting – certain London crews obviously DO own the river and believe looking where they are going is up to the others, not themselves. One crew in particular managing to hit at least three other crews while doing a race piece into the on-coming traffic. Add to this the impatient crews determined to get in front – even though their start position is down the field – and a good afternoon’s entertainment had by the bystanders.

The race wasn’t one of our best; starting midway through the Vet D group we were pretty quickly closed down and passed by three other competing boats. After this we settled a bit and paced with the rest of the group, through some very rough water (bit like Caldecotte Lake though!). However, it was an achievement and we didn’t finish last in the Vet D category, so can’t be too disappointed. Overall, we finished 8th (of 9) in Vet D and 261st (of 374 starters).

Rowing back at the end is just sheer Hell. Having done the 4k at racing speed to turn and then go back the whole 4k against the tide isn’t funny. Especially with one double so desperate to go past us (the race is over guys!) that despite several calls to “take a look” they finally hit us. What a pair of total muppets!

Even this wasn’t enough to put a damper on the day though. Hopefully we’ll be back again next year; with any luck with both of us feeling 100% this time.

Photos on-line at the MKRC Fotopic site and race results at The Pairs Head site

Bedford Autumn Fours & Small Boats Head 2009

Bit of a funny day, really. We came away without any wins (unusual) but with most of the crews happy with their rows and no real sense of disappointment. For the Womens’ squad, it was very much a case of mixing and matching, with a total of three IM2 4+ and two IM3 4+ boats going out. It also saw the Vet Quad and Double back in action plus a début for a new pairing of Josh and Paul as a Novice double. After some time out, the Juniors were also present, putting out four boats.

W.IM2 4+
Three crews out in this category, showing the increasing standard and depth of the Womens’ squad. The top placed crew came second, beaten by the St. Neots crew they’d pushed into second the previous week by just eight seconds. The other two boats finished 9th and 10th of the ten entries but still posted very respectable times.

W.IM3 4+
Third and fifth for the two boats at this level, although the winning Cantabs crew were clearly ahead of all of the other crews.

Nov 2x-
First time out for Josh and Paul saw an encouraging performance which put them fourth overall but the highest placed club crew. They even prevented the dominance of Bedford School taking the top four places, despite a couple of close encounters with hard stuff on the edge of the river…

IM3 4x-
Rowing at IM3 rather than Vet C, a good (probably best to date) performance by the Quad put us third of four, although the winning Bedford School crew were streets ahead. The quad sat midway between the two Guildford crews, again showing progress, just three seconds behind the crew in second place. Big plus – we were the fastest MK crew of the day!

Vet D 2x-
Initially disappointed when we looked at the results as we were last of four, but then realised that no handicapping had been applied (and the category was Vet B-D), we were only eight seconds or so behind Paul and Josh AND we beat the juniors, so not so bad after all. Don’t know about Steve but I was absolutely shattered at the end of this one (my second and his third race of the day)

Mixed Vet C 2x-
Only the second outing for Steve and Clare and a reasonable time, finishing second behind St. Ives. No steering dramas today, either!

J18 2x-
Ryan and Tim still learning the ropes, so no surprise that they finished well down, especially after a couple of unscheduled stops. Much more to come from them, I’m sure

J18 1x
Three of the juniors out in this category, with John and Tim showing a big improvement, placing in the middle of the division. Ryan’s put in a good effort but his lack of race experience left him trailing the others

Results, inevitably, on-line almost immediately, are at Bedford RC

My photos from the day now loaded as well at the MKRC Fotopic site

St Neots Head 2009

The first Head race of the winter saw yet another great performance by the ladies, with the WIM2 4+ taking the honours. Despite three of the crew suffering from heavy colds and rowing at IM2 for the first time, their strength and technique was enough to take the win by five seconds over the nearest crew. Considering this was a St Neots boat on their own water that contained some GB Juniors, this was a seriously impressive result. Maybe people will finally take notice and stop being surprised at being beaten by MK?

The other two boats out didn’t fare as well, the second WIM2 4+ boat being a bit off the pace and Steve and Clare making their racing début in a double had a few steering problems that put them well down the field.

Results on line here, and photos now up at MKRC Fotopic site

No other boats today as no competition for the Quad or Steve and I. Closest I got to racing was coxing the second ladies boat; now I know why my kids get so grumpy when they’re not competing but just watching…

End of Season Awards

A great night out at Strada in the Hub in Central MK for the end of season dinner and awards. Really nice to see so many new faces there, especially from the latest “Learn to Row” course, with Tom, Thomas, Fred, Roger, Andrea and Frances all there.

The awards for the season went to:

Oarsperson of the Year: Jo Heywood
A central figure in the top ladies crew this year, winning so many events, Jo not only contributed directly to their success but also freely passed on her knowledge and experience to help drive the crew on

Most Improved: Charlene Mills
Having been pushed (unwillingly!) into Stroke for the ladies crew, Charlene has gone from strength to strength through the year, driving the crew forward and improving all aspects of her rowing through the season

Club Person of the Year: Karen Wilson
Despite several other strong contenders, Karen’s immense contribution to the “Learn to Row” programme and her utter determination to keep helping despite serious injury saw her most deservedly pick up this award

Special mention: Dean Abraham
In recognition of his huge contribution to the Ladies squad this year, taking a talented but disorganised group of women under his wing and turning them into a real force to be reckoned with, putting up with the tears and tantrums to put together a squad that just got used to winning wherever they went!

Cambridge Autumn Regatta 2009

The last regatta of the season saw the Women’s Squad bow out in fine style, taking the honours in the CRA Eight with two of this crew in the other winning boat of the day, a Mixed Coxed Four. The other crews didn’t fare as well, but another enjoyable day’s racing at Cambridge.

Mixed IM2 4+
A bit of a scratch boat (they’d rowed once together) but a very powerful crew saw off another X-Press crew in their straight final. A good hard race from start to finish saw our crew taking the honours by a length. A couple of firsts as well, with Tim getting his first rowing pot at MKRC after his move from Star and Steph picking up her first coxing pot. The crew didn’t have time to catch their breath before four of the crew had to leap straight out of this boat into the Women’s Eight for the final!

Women’s CRA Eight
The first round saw a comfortable win (four lengths) over X-Press Boat Club, with a strong performance from the crew in their first race together. Crew positions were rejigged from St. Neots, with Helen J taking up stroke duties from Charlene, to allow more conventional rigging of the boat. The final saw Champions of the Thames putting up a harder fight but again the strength and technique of our ladies proved too much and they pulled away for a one length win. Deserved pots all round, all the better as, being a CRA event, it was non-qualifying, so no points! A notable first was Tim coxing his way to his first coxing pot – a good day for him following rapidly on from the Mixed boat. All credit to Jo and Lindy who’d just raced in the winning mixed crew.

This second win allowed Lindy to bow out on a real high before departing to Derby Uni, with two pots from the day. We’ll miss you!

Women’s IM3 4+
A narrow defeat for this crew, losing out by under a length to a Peterborough boat. A good result considering this was this crew’s first race and they had to wait an extraordinarily long time for the race and consequently were very, very cold. This delay was unfortunate as Peterborough had their steering fail at the start and had to row back to get it fixed. I guess the lesson is that if this happens again, go back with the competition and not sit around getting cold.

Women’s Novice 4+
Knocked out in the first round by the eventual winners, Maidstone Invicta. Definite progress by the novice ladies though, tough luck getting such strong opponents in the first race.

Mixed IM3 4-
Yet another new crew combination, with Pierre-Yves making his steering debut in a quad. Despite a good start, against a strong looking Guildford quad, we dropped behind and lack of practice on a river course led us to steer across to the bank. After rattling a few blades on some of the crews heading for the start we then clashed heavily with a double that obviously didn’t feel keeping to the bank was an instruction for them and had strayed into the racing lane. This stopped us dead and, although we got going and sculled very well after this, we were to far adrift and had an “easily” verdict against us.

Vet C 2x-
This was Pierre-Yves’ and my first outing since our win at Peterborough and a combination of lack of outings and a very big and strong crew from Poplar Blackwell saw us drop away (although we did hold them for the first couple of hundred meters) to finish 3-4 lengths down.

Overall
Despite a big entry from the Juniors, a mix up on dates led to the whole lot scratching. Sorry Cambridge!

Very pleasing was the large number of supporters we had, so real thanks to Tom, Barry and Rob for braving the cold and wind to come along and cheer us on!

The organisation at the event is getting better each year – the delays this year were down to “incidents” (such as the Peterborough four losing their steering and a couple of capsizes) and a large number of river craft. Particular mention to the arrogant house boat who “couldn’t hear” calls to stop because there was a race on the course – fortunately the single scullers managed to avoid this moron.

A couple of great examples of coxing muppetry illuminated the day – one junior coxed quad so busy chatting amongst themselves that they ignored all the marshals and umpires telling them to keep in but award of the day was the eight at the end of the day. Despite two eights coming down the course their cox thought the appropriate line was 90 degrees to the bank! Fortunately, he managed to just get out of the way – just as well it wasn’t a close race as the losing crew had to switch lanes. The idiot then, despite being told to keep in, let his stern drift out again, right in front of the next race. His excuse – he didn’t expect there to be any races on the course….

Results and Photos

Results on line at the Cambridge 99 website

Photos on line at the MKRC photo site, including some extra ones from Barry Rivett

Warwick Regatta 2009

Not sure but this may have been our first appearance at the Warwick Regatta. Anyway, whether it was or not, it was a well worthwhile day out. Not only was it such a nice regatta, well organised but very laid back, the women returned to their winning ways, taking home pots for the IM3 4+. The other two boats (a J16 1x and IM3 2x-) didn’t fare as well, neither getting through to the final.

Womens IM3 4+
A new combination today, with Jo stroking, Paula, Steph and Lou making up the crew, with yours truly coxing. First race saw a good start, holding Evesham A to around halfway before a good push saw us draw well clear to finish with clear water and bag three points. Second race pitted us against Evesham B (although it looked like their top crew); a closer race this one with us pushing away at the end to win by a third of a length (seemed more and was given as a full length initially). This gave us one point and, being unbeaten, put us into the final. This was to be against the Evesham B boat again, who had finished runners up in the group. Another good, close race but the same power at the end of the race saw us win again, by an increased distance. Unfortunately, the Evesham crew then objected, claiming we had taken their water and forced them off line. The umpires disagreed and overruled the objection (not surprisingly as I hadn’t received any warnings on the course) – however, Evesham then appealed this decision and it was only when they were told fairly curtly that this second appeal had been overruled that we were able to celebrate a hard fought and deserved win.

IM3 2x-
Tim and I’s first competitive outing in the double wasn’t a great success. First race saw me confuse the edge marker buoys for the centreline ones and make an unplanned inspection of the reeds. This rather gave the opposition crew from Ross an easy ride! Second race wasn’t much better; we knew from practice that we tend to pull to stroke side and we managed to scrape the stroke side bank – despite starting on the other side of the river. Another easy win for our opponents from Leicester. Needless to say, this was not enough to put us through. Back to the training to try and sort out our pull.

J16 1x
John was unfortunate to come up against a very good sculler from King’s School Ely in his first race, losing by a couple of lengths. His second race was much closer, with him losing by just two feet – this may have been better had John had more than just 40 minutes between his two races.

Overall, a really good event and one that we’ll add to our list for next year, for sure. One of the highlights has to be sitting on the start line and looking up at the imposing battlements of Warwick Castle; it really is that close. A challenging course but a good, friendly event.

Results at up at Warwick Boat Club but these show the winners only.

Photos now on line at the usual place, mkrc.fotopic.net

St. Neots Regatta 2009

I guess it shows how far we have progressed, especially the Women’s squad, that coming away from St. Neots without a single win feels really disappointing. There were some very good races and close finishes across both days plus a really good social evening on the Saturday but not a successful week-end overall.

Saturday
First crew out was the Womens IM3 4+. This was a slight change from Bedford with Yemin replacing Charlene (both availability and points!) and they went out (most surprisingly!) in the first round to the Broxbourne crew they had beaten the previous week. Broxbourne went on to win the event – typically, ours was the closest race they had all day. Next up was John Cunningham – no, not JC in person but the boat, racing with a Mixed IM2 8+. Despite a TOTAL lack of practice they gave Lea a hard row, losing by just one and a third lengths over the 1K course. Some very interesting comments from the marshals about it being unusual to see John’s name on anything other than a bar tab….

Following this was the biggest mismatch of the day. Having entered our Vet C quad and agreed to switch to IM3 if no competition, we were not impressed by finding we were racing instead at IM2. The race would have been a walk over for Star even if we hadn’t had two boat stopping crabs. Our annoyance at this was then compounded by not being entered at IM3 on Sunday although there was opposition. The whole draw process was a complete joke – wake up SNRC and join the 21st century and use OARA! As it was, we might as well have not raced it was so one sided.

Final race of the day was Steve and I in the Vet D 2x. Racing against the losing finalists from Henley Vets was always going to be a tall order but we were pleased with our row, even though we lost by a couple of lengths.

Following the day’s racing we retired for a few beers and a barbie (one of dozens, despite the insistence that no clubs were to have a barbie – there was a haze of smoke hanging over the field!)

Sunday
So to the 500m sprints on Sunday. The first boat out was the Womens Novice 4+. Despite being drawn against Barnes Bridge Ladies, their opposition was Doncaster. Apparently, the event was re-drawn as one crew had scratched the previous evening, so we were moved – only for another crew to scratch leaving us disadvantaged. And I thought draws were fixed and if a crew scratched that was your good fortune. Anyhow, our novice women rowed a stormer, despite being off line at the start, to come through for a win. Next up was (can’t figure this out) Barnes Bridge Ladies. A real disappointment here, as one of the crew caught a boat stopper when they were leading comfortably, handing the race to BBL on a plate. A real pity as they looked well on top and who knows where they would have finished.

Second crew of the day was a Mixed Quad, with Steve and I being joined by Clare and Bex. Seeing as we had never rowed as a crew before, losing to Doncaster by a length wasn’t bad!

Next up was what was described by the race commentator as the Women’s Blue Riband event – the IM3 8+. Really, really nice to see us able to put out a ladies eight – and a very strong one at that. They had Maidstone Invicta in the first round and once they settled and got the power on, rowed through the other crew for a comfortable win. The final saw an epic race, again with Barnes Bridge Ladies. Steve and I had a grandstand view of the finish of this one, having just boated for our Vet D 2x race. The boats were pretty level over the last 100m, with both crews clearly giving it everything. BBL had just enough though, pipping our crew by just a third of a length. Credit to the BBL crew, they had only de-noviced the previous day and look like a class act – very gracious in victory as well.

Steve and I had a re-run of the previous day’s race, against the same Peterborough pair. Whatever the reason, it just didn’t come together and we wound up losing by a bigger margin over 500m than over 1000m the previous day! Oh well…

Photos on-line at MKRC Photo site but no results from SNRC yet.

We do like St Neots week-end but this year was, I’m sorry to say, an organisational shambles. Our Novice 4+ was “missed” from the Saturday draw, the quad bumped to IM2 without consultation and dropped from IM3 on Sunday and many of our boats just dropped completely. By the way, we are still waiting for a refund on these events – as a small club, we can’t afford to subsidise big clubs like SNRC and will have to think long and hard about racing there next year.